RG&E shutoff followup: Share your plug-pulling story

A piece I wrote Thursday on final shutoff warnings from Rochester Gas and Electric Corp. has drawn a fair amount of comment from readers who complain they received threatening letters or calls they didn't deserve.

The Thursday piece was about a marked increase in the number of RG&E customers who've been sent final termination letters for non-payment of their utility bill. The increase was said to be due to the sour economy and, more recently, the spike in energy prices this winter.

But I also noted in the piece that several friends had gotten shutoff warnings seemingly out of the blue, and one had had his service cut off when it should not have been.

Since then, I've had numerous emails and comments from other folks with similar complaints -- automated phone calls threatening to send a bill to collection, final notices when the bill'd already been paid, and so on.

RG&E told me they're doing nothing differently, and that they abide by the state's rules when it comes to overdue bills and service cutoffs. And in truth, I take some complaints with a grain of salt; certain folks prefer to believe they've been cheated by the Man when they're really at fault themselves.

But other complaints have the ring of truth to them. So I'd like to hear more, to help me determine whether to further explore the surge in final termination notices.

If you think you have a compelling case that you've been threatened with cutoff unfairly, pass it on. Email it to us at watchdog@DemocratandChronicle.com or message me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/steve.orr.75457